Gardner's golden quest is under way

ATHENS, Greece — Rulon Gardner's defense of the Greco-Roman wrestling super heavyweight Olympic title he won four years ago in Sydney began here Tuesday morning in a four-man qualifying pool including Mindaugas Mizgaitis of Lithuania, Serguey Moreyko of Bulgaria and Marek Mikulski of Poland.

Of Gardner's "M" opponents, Moreyko is the most dangerous. The Bulgarian won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

In his first match, beginning just after 9:30 a.m. in Athens (12:30 a.m., MDT), Gardner was scheduled to wrestle Mizgaitis, with matches against Moreyko and Mikulski following. The winner of the pool moves on. By the end of competition Tuesday night, six wrestlers will have qualified for Wednesday's further eliminations. The bronze and gold medal matches are scheduled for Wednesday night.

Besides Moreyko, others in the 120-kilogram (264.5 pounds) weight class considered top contenders are Russian Khassan Baroev, the 2003 world champion; Greece's national champion Xenofon Koutsioubas, who placed third, fourth and fifth in the last three world championships; and Juri Yevseychyc of Israel, the fourth-place finisher in Sydney.

"There are some quality heavyweights," said Gardner on the eve of the competition. "It's a good tournament. I am trying to become a champion again, just like in 2000."

Heber City's Cael Sanderson, the U.S. entrant at 84 kilograms (185 pounds) in freestyle wrestling, begins his competition Friday.

Olympics Tuesday

• Iraq continues its improbable run in men's soccer, playing Paraguay in the Olympic semifinals.

• Sydney gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner of the United States returns to the mat.

• Baseball moves into the semifinals, with Japan, Canada and Australia trying to keep Cuba off the medals stand.

• Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Bernard Lagat of Kenya face off in the 1,500 meters.

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E-mail: lbenson@desnews.com